Messiah wrote:Should I pour all available income into infrastructure as long as my land area and military are sufficient?

Yes. Spend all your money on infrastructure, as long as you have enough soldiers and land to stay out of the red.

What resources should I seek to secure in trade as I am starting out?

By the time you read this, a guide to the best resource combos should be up. For information on what specific resources do, check here.

At what point do i switch from infrastructure growth (while maintaining adequate military and land area) to other goals?

When your population hits 1000 it would probably be wise to get your first improvement. I would recommend a Harbor which opens up your last trade slot. Then go back to buying infra until you can get your second improvement, which should be a Bank.

Is a Monty Python reference really a suitable nation name for an alliance mate?

The beginning is by far the most boring part of the game. Probably poor planning on admin's part. The good news is that in the next few days, we should have somebody who has agreed to be our protector alliance. It's customary for a very large alliance to protect a small alliance like us until we are able to repel the occasional idiot on our own, and often helps out with things like loans, grants, and trades. So once we get a couple million dollars in aid we can probably put the slow, boring part behind us for the most part.

I suggest buying infrastructure up to 999.99, then waiting until you get enough money to buy it too 1200-ish. If you don't, you get hit with huge negative economic faulties, and you'll end up being stuck in a rump for a while. Also, Banks and Factories are you friends. Buy land up to what is required, then don't buy anymore. Period. It'll grow slowly but surely. Buying more would be a waste of money. And don't buy tech from the game, do tech deals. Which I'm sure Kahn will explain. Jeese I've been playing this game WAY too long.

Hehe yes this was quite the necro post! All the same, nice to meet you, janec.

To answer your question, it's better to sell technology to larger nations, who will pay a lot more money than it takes for you to get the tech. Technology only benefits you if you have the infrastructure to match. People usually recommend a 2:1 infrastructure-to-tech ratio, so it's better to focus on infrastructure early on.